Dialogue Editing

254 ADR
can do to save it. If you can rescue the line—solving the problems that
brought attention to it in the fi rst place—while respecting the spirit of the
performance and delivering good sound, you may be able to remove it from
the ADR call list. But not yet.
Detailed Spotting
Several days before the scheduled ADR recording, you’ll need to properly
spot the fi lm and begin creating the paperwork. “Several days before” is
purposefully vague. If your total dialogue/ADR turnaround time is fi ve
weeks, you can’t be expected to start working on the ADR calls until the
beginning of week 3 and then to provide the production with a meaningful
list by week’s end. This necessitates recording ADR at the end of week 4,
leaving you a precious few days before the mix to cut in the lines. Such a
schedule doesn’t give the production a lot of time to fi nalize its talent scheduling,
but you’re not exactly handed a picnic either.
If, on the other hand, you have an 8-week schedule, you should be able to
provide a decent ADR list by the end of week 4. This gives the production
ample time for scheduling and will hopefully result in a bit more time for
ADR editing after the recordings. Remember, you can always modify the
ADR call lists you sent to the production. They only want to know approximately
how many lines each actor has to record so that they can plan the
recording days and schedule the talent.
By now you have a handle on your major dialogue problems. You know what
will and probably won’t work. On your ADR notes you’ve marked what
you’ve been able to fi x as well as the problematic lines you’ve discovered since
the initial screening. Now you need to screen the fi lm with the supervising
sound editor, going over each line and confi rming what’s in and what’s out.
Show her the called lines you were able to resurrect and then decide together
which ones still have to be looped. Add to the list any “add” lines you feel
would be instrumental in bridging a dialogue transition or clarifying or
focusing a scene. When this ADR spotting session is fi nished, you’ll have all
of the information you need to create the ADR paperwork.
ADR for TV Productions
Find out if there’ll be a special mix for tamed-down language. A TV version
often requires special loops, not needed in the full mix, to replace potentially
offensive exclamations, blasphemies, and steamy pillow talk. You, the supervising
sound editor, and perhaps the director will become skilled at creating
nonsense nonprofanities that match the mood of the scene and the sync of